


I've Lost the Right to Say "I Love You"

by canufeelthemagictonight



Category: Escape the Night (Web Series), Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Aftermath of Violence, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Apologies, Arguing, Betrayal, Confrontations, Consequences, Escape the Night Spoilers, Fights, Gen, Guilt, Implied/Referenced Character Death, except only slightly
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-12
Updated: 2018-06-12
Packaged: 2019-05-05 15:57:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,212
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14622075
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/canufeelthemagictonight/pseuds/canufeelthemagictonight
Summary: "It's true." She lowers her eyes, unable to meet Eva's wounded glare. "I'm sorry."Eva discovers Lele's betrayal, and what happens after.An Escape the Night AU.





	I've Lost the Right to Say "I Love You"

**Author's Note:**

> I love Lele and Eva's friendship _so freakin' much,_ but I also love me some angst. This is my compromise. This is also an attempt to explore an interesting "what-if."

Eva Gutowski and Timothy DeLaGhetto follow Arthur out the door. Tim exits with a shrug and a nervous grin, but Eva, who's the last to leave, glares at the other three guests with broken eyes. The door slams shut behind her.

 _My fault,_ Lele tells herself. _My fault. Me jodí._

Oli, sweet Oli, who wouldn't hurt a fly, rounds on Joey with the fury of a thousand suns. "You," he snarls. "You voted for Eva. If she dies, it's _your_ bloody fault!"

"Oli, I—"

"Why, Joey? Why did you vote for her?"

"I _didn't!"_ Joey screams, his voice raw and defensive. "I voted for Timothy!"

Lele's jaw drops. "You did _what?"_

"I voted for—"

"No! We had a deal! We agreed..."

She realizes what she's saying as soon as it slips out of her mouth, and she pales with shame. Oli's gaze rounds on her. "Lele," he breathes, "you _didn't."_

Lele wants to deny it. She wants to pretend that she's still the good friend she tried so hard to be. But there's no point now. "Don't tell Eva," is all she can bring herself to say.

Oli shakes his head, disgusted, and turns to face the wall. Joey picks up a book and pretends to read.

Lele curls into a ball. _Save her, God,_ she prays. _Please. Just save her. Don't let her die because of my mistake._

 

God hears Lele's prayer. Eva returns with a lifeless expression and a solid bar of gold in her hands. Tim is not with her, but Lele comforts herself with her usual barrage of platitudes. _He's safe now. He's in a better place. Don't think about it. Live. Move on. Survive._

Eva places the gold on the mantlepiece and turns to face her friends, tears watering her dark brown eyes. "Guys...I can't take any more of this."

"Look," says Oli gently, "there's two more owners we need to find."

"Who's gonna die next?" Eva cries.

"We don't know!"

"Don't think about it," Lele repeats.

Joey steps forward, concern on his face. "Eva..."

"Don't," she snarls at him. "I don't want to hear _anything_ you have to say right now. I'm done with you."

She storms out. Oli runs after her, shouting "Eva, wait!" into the air. Lele considers following them, but holds herself back. Eva needs space. Whatever happened in there must've done a number on her heart, and it's probably best for them to leave her alone so she can pull herself back together.

 _Easy for you to say,_ sneers her conscience. _It's your fault she's like this._

She slaps her forehead in an effort to shut herself up.

 

When Eva and Oli return, there's a new expression on Eva's face, and it's scarier than anything Lele's ever seen before. Oli's guilty frown tells Lele everything she needs to know about what went on between them.

"Lele." Eva's voice trembles with anger. "Tell me it's not true."

Lele briefly considers lying, but then decides that her conscience has been through enough damage as it is. "It's true." She lowers her eyes, unable to meet Eva's wounded glare. "I'm sorry."

"Why?"

"Cause I believed in you. Cause I knew you could beat him."

Silence rules for a solid two minutes. Eva breathes heavily, her hands curling into fists at her sides. Oli stands behind her like a protective sentinel, Joey buries his head in his book, and Lele waits for the other shoe to drop.

Finally, Eva speaks again. "It was Russian Roulette." Her tone is a monotone version of despair. "I had to put a gun to my head. I had to pull the trigger. Those bastards...made Tim... _kill_ himself...and _you_ wanna be like 'yay, I knew you could do it?'"

"Eva—"

"I stuck by you. I defended you from Matt. I saved your _life,_ Lele. You would not be _standing_ here if it wasn't for me."

"I know!" Lele cries. "I'm sorry!"

Eva shakes her head. "No. You don't get to say that."

"Please..."

"You sent me to die!" Eva's shouting now. "I trusted you, and you threw me under the bus!" She raises an arm, as if she's about to attack Lele, then lowers it with a scowl. "You know what? Maybe Matt was right about you."

The mention of Lele's old nemesis hits her like a shot through the heart. "Eva!" she cries. "I'm so sorry! Please! I'll make it up to you!"

But Eva turns away, her fists clenched, her body shaking.

Oli says some bullshit about two more owners, but Lele's not listening to him anymore. _She hates me._ Her heart feels like it's drowning. _She's alive, but she hates me. I'm an idiot. I ruined everything._

 

They continue their quest. They meet Vincent, retrieve the first key from the garden, and search for the second one within a maze of masks. The whole time, Eva acts as though Lele does not exist.

It isn't until after Oli is sliced out of the hallucination that Eva acknowledges Lele, and when she does, Eva wishes that she hadn't.

"I knew which one it was the _whole time!"_ the visibly furious brunette screams, shoving the octopus mask in Joey's face. "I said 'this is what happens when it burns.'" She looks like she's about to cry, or kill Joey, or both. "Maybe if you'd just _listened_ to me..."

"Eva, calm down!" exclaims Lele. The words are barely out of her mouth before she realizes her mistake.

Eva rounds on Lele with a glare that is capable of liquifying bones and organs alike. "Stay out of this, Lele," she growls dangerously. "I'm not in the mood to deal with you."

Lele stifles a sob and gets back to work.

 

Five minutes later, Lele herself is removed from the hallucination, sliced in half by the butcher's glistening blade. She finds herself on the front porch of the estate.

"You too, huh?"

She turns around, and there's Oli, still alive. "Thank God." She hugs him. "I thought..."

"Yeah," he says. "I thought the same thing for a minute there."

Lele's mind wanders back to Eva. Eva, who saved her life, who she betrayed, who will probably _never_ forgive her. "I'm sorry," she blurts out. "Can you tell Eva I'm sorry? When we see her again?"

Oli shakes her head. "I think you should tell her that yourself."

"But she _hates_ me!"

"She doesn't hate you. She's been through a lot, that's all. If you apologize, she'll come around eventually."

 

Lele decides to do more than just apologize.

"I'm going to vote for myself," she announces to the reunited group, and they all nod in agreement. The expression on Eva's face is unreadable, but when Lele squints, she can detect traces of forgiveness in her eyes.

For the first time in an hour, Lele feels hope. Of course, because this is a house of evil, it doesn't take long for her hope to come crashing down.

"Lele."

She shudders. "I hate that basement."

 

As they prepare to leave for the basement, Lele accidentally brushes a nervous hand against Eva's shoulder. Eva turns to her with shattered brown eyes, sighs, and smiles sadly.

"I'm sorry," Lele murmurs.

Eva nods. "I'm sorry, too."

They're not the way they were. But they've found peace.

**Author's Note:**

> "Well, that was fun!" she says sarcastically.


End file.
